South Korean firms prefer Hanoi to HCMC for office lease

In the event, they lease 60 percent more office space in Hanoi than HCMC, the study by real estate consultancy Savills found. The survey polled companies leasing office space in Hanoi and HCMC, with the majority of them in the sectors of finance, manufacturing and IT.

For Japanese businesses, the ratio is roughly equal, indicating that they see opportunities in both markets.

Hanoi has in the last 10 years seen premium office space also move to other parts from the downtown area along with rising demand.

Demand in new areas such as the western part of the city is now even higher than in the downtown district of Hoan Kiem, the study said.

In HCMC, this trend began only two years ago but is expected to continue for at least the next three years.

However, District 1 remains the best location for premium office space as of now.

Other areas with potential for high-end office space are Districts 2, 7 and Thu Duc.

In both markets, most businesses leasing premium space are in the finance, insurance, real estate, manufacturing, or IT sectors.